Jaunt Acquires Personify’s Volumetric Capture Tech & Talent to Build Out XR Platform

Jaunt was once a cinematic VR company which produced high-quality 360 video, and to boot even a professional-grade 360 camera dubbed NEO. Taking a step in a decidedly more AR direction with its recently revealed volumetric video capture solution, Jaunt further announced it’s also acquired both Personify’s ‘Teleporter’ volumetric video streaming tech and the engineers behind it.

As a talent and IP-driven acquisition, the move is said in a press statement to directly support Jaunt’s volumetric R&D initiatives for its Jaunt XR Platform, a solution that lets businesses create and deliver their own branded volumetric video content like livestreamed avatars of real people, deliverable to both VR headsets and AR-capable devices like flagship Apple smartphones and tablets.

According to Venture Beat’s Dean Takahashi, who visited Jaunt’s San Mateo, California headquarters last month, the company has created a pipeline that uses six Intel RealSense depth cameras; the resultant images are then automatically stitched into a single 3D avatar and livestreamed to supported devices.

Jaunt CTO and Founder Arthur van Hoff says adding both Teleporter and the talent behind it allows them to “increase the speed and scope of our research and development as we move further into the extended reality arena with the Jaunt XR Platform at the core of our business.”

Continuing: “We’re honing in on fully immersive virtual, mixed, and augmented reality experiences, and are thrilled to advance those technologies with the help of our new Chicago-based team.”

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The deal includes seven Personify engineers, who will join Jaunt’s R&D team, four pending patents developed around Personify’s Teleporter technology, and Personify’s office in Chicago. Jaunt hasn’t disclosed the acquisition price.

Jaunt’s evolution to a B2B-focused company coincided with the late-2017 announcement of their Jaunt XR platform. The company has been involved in the VR cinematic space since its founding in 2013.

The post Jaunt Acquires Personify’s Volumetric Capture Tech & Talent to Build Out XR Platform appeared first on Road to VR.

Jaunt Acquires Volumetric Capture Firm

Jaunt, a company known for its immersive content distribution platform, has announced the acquisition of Personify’s Teleporter line of business, which includes intellectual property, key staff and pending patents. Personify is an augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) company concentrating on streaming immersive video.

The acquisition will include Teleporter, a volumetric streaming software system that can capture, process and stream life-like AR assets in real-time. The six-person team and CTO of Personify will join Jaunt in working towards the improvement of the Jaunt XR Platform.

Personify’s Teleporter technology

“The addition of Personify’s Teleporter team and technology allows us to increase the speed and scope of our research and development as we move further into the extended reality arena with the Jaunt XR Platform at the core of our business,” said Arthur van Hoff, Jaunt CTO and Founder. “We’re honing in on fully immersive virtual, mixed, and augmented reality experiences, and are thrilled to advance those technologies with the help of our new Chicago-based team.”

The personnel and IPs gained by Jaunt as part of the acquisition will be supporting Jaunt’s work in volumetric research and development for the Jaunt XR platform, which is described as a B2B solution for distributing VR and mixed reality (MR) assets. Jaunt will be opening an office in Chicago which will focus on R&D, led by Personify CTO, Simon Venshtain.

“Jaunt has an incredible reputation and the company’s smart approach to business has made them a primary player in the XR space,” said Venshtain. “We’re excited to join forces and continue advancing the business to deliver new solutions for XR content creation and distribution.”

Jaunt XR Platform

Jaunt believes this acquisition will allow the company to better support brands, publishers and their customers by providing new options and services for the streaming of immersive content.

For future coverage of Jaunt and other developments in the VR and AR industry, keep checking back with VRFocus.